


Stepping back, moving forward

by FireEdge



Series: Dualities [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, First Impressions, Invisible Kingdom | Revelation Route, LeoSaku Week, LeoSaku Week 2016, LeoSakura Week, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 19:45:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9008551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireEdge/pseuds/FireEdge
Summary: Their first impressions of each other were the worst. She found him cold, judgmental and intimidating. He found her naïve, weak-willed and unmotivated. The less they saw of each other, the better. However, as they distanced themselves from each other, they came to see sides of the other that they never expected.Late-post for Leo/Sakura Week 2016. Day 1: Proximity/Distance.Cross-posted on FF.net.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for checking out my entry for Day 1 of Leo/Sakura Week 2016. This is being cross-posted (very late) from FF.net. I will note that the rest of my entries for LeoSaku Week are going to be uploaded late (both on here and on FF.net) since I haven't had time this past week to really write. But, please stay tuned if you're interested, as I will have an entry for each prompt, eventually.

The first time that Sakura really set eyes on Leo, she was terrified. Not just of the situation she was in, but also of him. Though her brain told her that the look of disgust and hatred on his face was actually directed at the mage holding her hostage, she could not help but feel intimidated, as if that look were directly meant for her.

When he raised his hand to cast a spell, her eyes squeezed shut and she fully expected to meet her end. Instead, she simply fell to the floor as she felt the mage’s presence disappear, and, slowly, she opened her eyes. Her eyes met with those of her saviour, but Sakura couldn’t help but flinch and avert her gaze. Instead, she quickly gathered herself and pretended to be occupied with something else in an attempt to avoid his scrutiny.

The last thing that Sakura remembered about her encounter with Leo was the scorn in his voice as he said: “the pathetic Hoshidan prince, Takumi.” Those words burned in her ears and she felt a rarely-felt anger well up inside of her. How could he say something like that! He didn’t even know her brother!

As Sakura ran into the banquet hall to see if Takumi was truly inside, she couldn’t help but feel secretly happy that the second Nohrian prince wouldn’t be joining them… He was just too cold, judgmental and intimidating. The less she saw of him, the better, she thought.

However, despite Sakura’s intentions of avoiding Leo, he did eventually join their army, and she found herself running into him more often than she thought she would.

* * *

Leo was on his way to the war council when he had almost literally bumped into Sakura. Though he had been formally introduced to the young Hoshidan princess shortly after he and Xander had joined Corrin several days ago, he had never spoken with her. Honestly, he was quite surprised that she had even said anything to him considering how quiet she seemed, but he supposed she had done so out of curtesy.

Thinking back on their conversation as he walked through the corridors of the records hall, Leo scoffed.

 _"No, I… I wouldn’t be of any help. I hate discussing how to d-defeat people_ …”

Honestly, they were at war. Of course they had to defeat people! What was she even doing here if she had that kind of mindset? If she was only going to put half of her heart into battles, then she would be more of a liability than anything. As someone who put one hundred and ten percent effort into all of his endeavours, he hated people like that.

And more than anything, he disliked how she had apologized. How she had shrunk back and stammered out an “I’m s-sorry.” Didn’t she have a backbone? If he had been on the receiving end of what he had said, he’d have fought back.

Leo couldn’t help but scowl as he walked into the meeting room. He made a mental note to not bother talking to the young Hoshidan princess if he could help it. Clearly, there wouldn’t be anything to gain from consorting with someone like her, who was naïve, weak-willed and unmotivated.

True to his word, Leo never actively sought out Sakura after that. However, Leo often caught sight of Sakura in his peripheral, and, for whatever reason, he often found himself turning his full attention on her whenever this happened.

* * *

The first time she caught sight of him was late in the evening. She was walking back to her room in the barracks after a calming bath in the hot springs. As she approached, she was quite surprised to see Leo with a sleeping Elise draped over his back, her arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders, standing outside the barrack doors. Judging from the awkward angle he was positioned at the door, she could tell that he was struggling to open the door because he didn’t want to drop Elise.

She would never forget the humble “thank you” she received when she opened the door for him. As he walked past her, she heard Elise’s tired voice mumble out: “I love you, Leo.” And Sakura just barely heard him whisper back: “I love you, too.”

* * *

The first time that he saw her after that fateful encounter before the war council was when he was making the rounds of the perimeter before retiring for bed. He saw a flash of white and, if he wasn’t mistaken, the sounds of a bowstring twanging and arrows thumping into a target. Navigating himself through the grove of Hoshidan cherry trees, he was surprised to find that Sakura was the one wielding the yumi. Glancing at the targets, he counted no fewer than ten targets and almost a hundred arrows buried in them. Under the moonlight, he could just make out a sheen of sweat on her face and could hear that her breathing was more ragged than usual.

He couldn’t help but watch her for several minutes before he decided that he should stop spying on her. As he turned to leave, he noted that the targets were human sized and that the arrows were all focused on vital points.

* * *

The second time that she ran into him was on the battlefield. She had just finished healing Hana and was looking to see where she would be most needed next. As she glanced around, she saw that Hinoka was slightly separated from the rest of the army and was facing off against a Faceless, with several more approaching her. Setsuna was nearby, but Sakura noticed that Azama was on the other side of the battlefield, tending to several injured.

Nervous that Hinoka and Setsuna were without any back-up, Sakura quickly made her way over. However, she was still too far away to help at all when one of the Faceless raised its giant arms, ready to crush Setsuna under its fists. She could hear Hinoka scream Setsuna’s name, and Sakura’s heart clenched as she feared the worst for the archer. But, suddenly, a purple aura surrounded the Faceless and a grove of trees burst forth from the ground and pierced the Faceless’ body.

A second later, Leo charged in on his horse and snatched Setsuna up by the arm, hauling her onto the back of his horse before retreating away from the Faceless’ reach and towards Sakura. As he stopped next to her, Leo gently let a dazed Setsuna off of his horse and Sakura quickly propped the exhausted archer up with her hands.

“Princess Sakura, please take care of her injuries. I’m going to help your sister and take care of the rest of these Faceless.”

Setsuna seemed to have lost a lot of blood and was barely conscious. Perhaps that was why she said what she said next.

“Huh… Didn’t think a Nohrian would bother to rescue someone like me…”

Leo quirked an eyebrow. For a moment, Sakura was afraid that he would say something condescending, but was surprised to hear him say: “Don’t be ridiculous. I would never let an ally be killed if I can help it. Your race has nothing to do with it.”

Neither her nor Setsuna had an opportunity to say anything before his horse galloped off to assist Hinoka.

* * *

The second time that he really paid attention to Sakura was in the aftermath of a skirmish. Their army had been ambushed on both sides by ruffians and the surprise attack had left many injured. Unfortunately, he was one of them, and he found himself in the medical tent after the battle – which was a rare occurrence, luckily.

Elise was tending to his wounds with her heal staff, chattering in his ear about how he needed to be more careful. He barely heard her, though, since his eyes were focused on Sakura on the other side of the tent. She was busy commanding the other healers around, directing them to tend to this patient, or to replenish some tonic or another, or to pass her more bandages.

The entire time that he observed her, he noted that she never stuttered once, and that she had an air of authority about her that he had never seen before. In fact, he was surprised to even hear her sternly order one of the senior soldiers – Fuga, in fact – to stay in bed or she would tie him down.

“What are you looking at, Leo?” Elise asked once she noticed that he wasn’t paying attention to her.

“Nothing,” he replied, quickly tearing his gaze away from Sakura.

* * *

The third time that Sakura encountered Leo was in a place that she never would’ve imagined. That day, she had been in charge of cooking duty. As was the general practice, she took a short break after dinner to allow any latecomers to partake in that evening’s meal. Now that it was several hours after the regular dinner time, Sakura returned to the kitchen to start cleaning. However, as she entered the kitchen, she was shocked to come face-to-face with Leo, who appeared to be on his way out.

“P-Prince Leo?” Sakura exclaimed.

The Nohrian prince immediately flushed red upon seeing her and stiffened.

Sakura was about to ask him what he was doing there when her eyes caught sight of what was in his hands. He was carrying a large bowl of tomatoes.

“G-Good evening, Princess Sakura,” he replied with an awkward clearing of his throat. “I was just… uh… grabbing a snack… For later… Since I’m going to be up quite late planning tomorrow’s strategy. With Corrin. This isn’t just for me. Obviously.”

Sakura felt her mouth twitch, but she forced her giggles down her throat, disguising it as a cough, and moved past Leo.

“O-Oh, I see… In that case, why don’t you, um, take this leftover bread and cheese as well? S-So you can make sandwiches… It’ll be more filling th-than eating those tomatoes on their own, I-I’m sure” she said shyly, as she packed the bread and cheese into a basket.

“No, I can eat them on their own—” Leo started before he suddenly flushed again and took the basket from her. “I-I mean, thank you! G-Good evening!”

As he rushed out of the kitchen, Sakura couldn’t help but think that maybe he wasn’t so intimidating after all.

* * *

The third time that he caught sight of her was in the library inside of the records hall. He was returning a book to a shelf, when he caught sight of a pink head bent over a book at one of the tables. This was the first time he had seen her in the library, but then again, he wasn’t usually here at this time. Curious, he walked over to her and asked: “What are you reading?”

The young healer jumped out of her chair with a yelp, knocking it straight over. Flushing red at her bumble, Sakura quickly righted her chair and apologized for disturbing him (though she wasn’t) before she snatched up her book and started to rush out of the library. However, he happened to catch the title of the book in her hands. It was a beginner’s strategy book, and one that he had read before.

“Wait.”

At the sound of his voice, Sakura stopped and turned to look at him with a questioning look in her eyes.

“You can stay. You’re not disturbing me. And this is a public place – it’s not like I own it,” he continued with a shrug.

“Oh… R-right. Th-thank you,” she replied before sheepishly returning to her seat.

“And, uh… here…” Leo mumbled before he quickly went to a nearby shelf and pulled out a book – he had memorized the location by heart – and gently placed it on the table. “This is a good one to read after you finish that.”

He didn’t wait for a response before he turned around and left. He was done what he needed to do, after all. It certainly wasn’t because he didn’t want her to notice the empty bowl in his hands.

* * *

Through each encounter, she found herself feeling less resentful towards him. In fact, he seemed like a nicer person than she had originally thought and infinitely more human than the cold, calculating being that had hovered above her in Izumo.

* * *

After observing her several times, he begun to slowly, and grudgingly, realize that maybe his first impression of her was wrong. She was in fact more driven than he had thought, and certainly not a liability on the battlefield.

* * *

Corrin was on his way to the war council when he saw an unlikely sight. There, in front of the records hall entrance, he saw Leo and Sakura talking. As he approached, he could see that their conversation seemed to be rather heated. From where he was, he could see that Sakura was tense, but that she had drawn herself up to her full height to look Leo in the face and that she was saying something to the blond prince in a surprisingly assertive manner.

When he saw this, Corrin quickened his pace. Knowing Leo, he was going to say something harsh to Sakura. Corrin knew that Leo wasn’t always aware of the effect of his words and that he usually meant well, but Corrin was afraid that against someone like Sakura, the situation could end badly. He didn’t want to see his little sister hurt by misinterpreting Leo’s words. He really would like them to get along, after all.

However, as he drew up close enough to hear what they were saying, Corrin was surprised to see a small smirk (the “I’m-being-a-nice-human-being smirk” rather than the “I’m-a-jerk smirk,” in the words of Elise) spread across Leo’s face as he finished saying something. And, even more surprisingly, a big smile took over Sakura’s face as she thanked him with a quick bow.

“Sakura? Leo? Is everything okay?” Corrin asked as soon as he was close enough to announce his presence.

The two young royals started as they seemed to finally notice his presence and, unless Corrin’s eyes were deceiving him, they both flushed pink.

“N-Nothing’s wrong, big brother! I-I was just thinking of j-joining the war council… If that’s okay…” Sakura stuttered, wringing her hands together nervously.

Before Corrin could say anything, Leo jumped in.

“Of course it’s okay,” he said curtly. “I already said it was fine, didn’t I? Let’s go, we shouldn’t keep everyone waiting.”

Leo then opened the door to the records hall and gestured for Sakura to enter before him. The young princess bobbed her head and practically scampered inside before Leo followed immediately after.

With a shrug, Corrin pulled the door shut behind him as he too entered the records hall. As he caught up to the two younger royals, he could make out Leo’s voice saying: “Did you ever finish reading that book I recommended?”

“Y-Yes… It took me a little while, but I, um, I think I understood it enough…” came Sakura’s soft reply.

“Oh, I never knew that you two had gotten so close. I’m glad that you’re getting along so well!” the platinum-haired prince quipped with a genial smile as he drew abreast of them. Time always flowed differently in the astral plane than outside of it, but he figured that, in total, three or four weeks had passed since his Nohrian brothers had joined his cause. He supposed it made sense that Leo and Sakura would have become friends during that amount of time, considering how close in age they were.

“C-Close?” Leo and Sakura exclaimed, both of them turning wide eyes towards him, surprised. Then they looked at each other and the two of them blushed. Suddenly, they both suddenly stammered out some excuse about how they’d better hurry to the war council.

Corrin couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow as he watched his younger siblings quite literally run away from him. With a shrug and a smile, the older prince brushed it off and followed after them leisurely.

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if the constant POV switching worked well or not. I went back and forth between whether I wanted to switch constantly or not. But this is how it turned out, for better or for worse…
> 
> As I mentioned before, I have written/will write something for all seven prompts for LeoSaku Week 2016. Hope to see you again for my future posts! Thank you for reading!


End file.
